The invention relates to a motor vehicle door. More particularly, the invention relates to a motor vehicle door having a wet/dry space separation in which the wet space on the side of the door outer shell is separated from the dry space on the side of the door inside trim.
Vehicle doors of the generic type are known from DE 94 08 653 U1, DE 19509282 A1, DE 195 11 105 C1, DE 196 22 310 A1, DE 197 38 656 A1, DE 199 15 151 A1, DE 199 44 965 A1 and EP 0 684 157 A1. The door inner shells have an xe2x80x9cassemblyxe2x80x9d opening of large area which can be closed by a support plate fitted with function elements. The opening may be advantageously utilized during assembly processes. In order to achieve an effective sealing contactxe2x80x94even in the event of pressure differences between the wet and dry spacesxe2x80x94a circumferential sealing cord is provided which extends along the edge of the opening in the door inner shell. A door structure of this kind enables pre-assembly and pre-checking of the function elements (e.g. window lifter, lock control electronics, electric connectors, etc.) before these are inserted with the support plate into the door body. By mounting the function elements on the dry space side it is possible to omit expensive damp protection. An inner channel seal which is to prevent moisture from penetrating into the interior passenger compartment, extends at a comparatively short distance from the upper substantially horizontally aligned sealing area between the support plate and door inner shell.
A channel seal having an integrated reinforcement element for the ledge area is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,448. The disclosed reinforcement element has a clip-like fixing area which is engaged surrounding the upper end of the door inner shell. On the wet space side of the door inner shell the sheet metal plate of the reinforcement element continues down into an inverted area in order to finish in a closed profile. An adjoining arm supports the sealing lips of the channel seal facing the inside of the window pane.
Other vehicle doors with various sealing arrangements are also known. It would be desirable to provide a motor vehicle door with a configuration and channel seal that meets wet/dry space separation requirements with reduced sealing costs.
The present invention provides a vehicle door having a door inner shell, a door outer shell connected thereto and a large area assembly opening in the door inner shell which can be sealingly covered by a support plate fitted with function elements whereby the high demands on the wet/dry space separation are met with reduced sealing costs.
The present invention achieves this objective by providing a channel seal forming the upper closure of an inner ledge area that is supported by an upper edge of the support plate whereby the ends of the channel seal are connected to the side sealing areas of the support plate. This produces a closed uninterrupted sealing contour. The upper sealing area formed by the channel seal thus forms a seal between the door inner shell and the support plate. In one embodiment, the channel seal can include a clip-like fixing area with a metal insert that is engaged with and surrounds the upper edge area of the support plate and has a laterally protruding area which supports the sealing lips associated with the inside of the window pane.
According to another exemplary embodiment, the invention provides that the door inner shell has in the ledge area, the overall shaft reinforcement on the inside and the upper contour of the support plate extends substantially along the upper contour of the ledge area of the door inner shell. The channel seal thereby engages and covers both the upper edge of the support plate and also the upper edge of the door inner shell.
According to another exemplary embodiment, the invention provides the door inner shell having, in the ledge area, an upper part of the inside shaft reinforcement, and the support plate has a lower part of the inside shaft reinforcement. In this case the upper edges of the support plate and door inner shell form a common closure which is engaged by the fixing areas of the channel seal. In the reverse case in which the door inner shell forms in the ledge area the lower part of the inside shaft reinforcement and the support plate forms the upper part of the inside shaft reinforcement, the channel seal may be connected solely to the upper contour of the support plate. This type of fixing for the channel seal is in any case necessary if the support plate in the ledge area forms the entire internal shaft reinforcement.
The channel seal may include a bead which serves to hang the door inside trim panel above its fixing area.
The sealing areas between the support plate and the associated lateral edge areas and the lower edge area of the opening in the door inner shell can be formed by a continuous sealing element, e.g. in the form of an injection-moulded or stuck-on sealing cord. A further possibility for forming the sealing areas consists of causing an elastic sealing foil to adhere onto the support plate, more particularly in the form of a foamed foil.
The support plates can be manufactured simply as stamped parts of sheet steel or of another sheet metal material, whereby the shaft reinforcement can be formed where necessary by stamping and/or bending processes. An even higher degree of integration can be achieved with a support plate in the form of a light metal cast part. In this embodiment, bearing sites or fixing elements can also be formed without having to make an opening which penetrates through the wet/dry space separation.
In another exemplary embodiment, the support plate may be formed of injected plastic. When using a support plate in the form of a plastics injected part using multi-component technology, the channel seal may be formed by means of sufficiently flexible plastics components which are integrated into the support plate in one piece. Furthermore the remaining sealing areas provided on the support plate (the lower and the side sealing areas between the support plate and the associated edge areas of the opening in the door inner shell) can also be integrated in one piece into the support plate.